Barton, a former Marseille player, was trying to escort his group away from the city’s historic port area where rival fans fought running battles ahead of Saturday night’s Group B match.

Police used tear gas and water cannon as they tried to control the warring fans.

But Barton’s escape route led them into the path of the yobs as they marauded through back streets hunting for England fans.

The shaken 33-year-old - who was working as a radio pundit at the match later that night - said: “I ran into the Russians in action myself earlier in the day and it was a scary sight. They were clearly highly organised. They operated like a military group.

“I was with two of my pals, one of whom had his young lad with him – a five-year-old boy.

“We could sense there was going to be trouble so I thought I’d try to lead them away using the back streets that I know from living here.

Russian hooligans charge England fans inside the stadium (Image: PA)

”We used underground Metros to try to get away from the problem areas but as I came up the stairs of one station I just ran into this gang.

“They weren’t even in the main streets, they were running round the back streets because they were trying to cut the English fans off.

“We ran straight into them and I just thought to myself: ‘S***, what do we do here?’

“But thankfully, they weren’t interested in us. There was 40 or 50 of them and they were looking for groups of England fans. They weren’t picking people off in ones or twos.

“Fortunately, my mates and I weren’t wearing any England kit, just the little lad. We walked right through the middle of them and there was no animosity or hostility.

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“There was another lad about a hundred yards behind us who said they kicked his legs as he walked past but they let him through and he came up the street with us, running as fast as we could.

“When we had got away from them we all just turned round and said: ‘What the f*** was that?’.

“Everyone was petrified because when there’s only two or three of you and you run into a highly organised hooligan mob it’s intimidating and, yes, you do fear for your safety.”

He added: “If you had put camouflage on these guys you would have thought they were the Russian army. That’s how big they were.

Joey described the Russian thugs' behaviour as 'scary'

“They all had balaclavas on, or face masks or ski masks and knuckle-dusters.

“They were like a professional outfit compared to the drunken English fans down the harbour. They were just being drunk and boisterous but the Russians were proper organised and looking to do serious damage.

“It was organised and they had put in a great deal of planning. That’s what made me think they had a military background.

“When the flares and fireworks went off inside the stadium at the end of the game there was one massive bang and I’m told that was the signal to tell the others it was all going to kick off on the final whistle.

“I don’t know how true that is but, having seen what I did earlier in the day, it really wouldn’t surprise me. This lot were organised and brutal.”

Scores of Russians rampaged towards England fans behind Joe Hart’s goal after seeing their team net an injury time goal to snatch a 1-1 draw in the Group B opener.

As thousands of supporters fled for their lives many were crushed against walls and spilled over barriers and on to the trackside.

Rangers signing Barton believes UEFA must take some of the blame for failing to segregate fans after 48 hours of trouble leading up to the match.